Various Artists – Digging Your Scene: New Pop And All That Jazz 1982-1987

In music culture, nothing beats a generous portion of nostalgia. It enables the listener to indulge in either reminiscing on the past, or in re-invigorating the senses for new music to come. And Pop music artists, in particular, are magpies with veracious appetites, with past influences being an integral part of the development of new sounds. Whether a new music fashion is propagated by the industry and the media for commercial purposes, or whether it develops organically is not really the point, this re-purposing of old styles ensures that music culture continues to evolve and provides opportunities to both newer and older artists.

For this release, Digging Your Scene – New Pop & All That Jazz 1982-1987, Cherry Red have focussed on UK pop in the period 1982 – 1987, when it was the turn of Jazz to provide a stimulus to some of the more explorative pop artists of the day. Whilst it mostly documents the influence of Jazz there are other art-pop nuggets that are less overtly jazzy, and the other theme that is prevalent in this compilation is the re-birth of new wave artists who, by 1982, realised that ‘new wave’ was beginning to feel like it had peaked. Mainstream artists who had ridden that wave, like Paul Weller, Joe Jackson and Alison Moyet were pivoting their sound, and by coincidence or by design, they were incorporating jazz influences.

If it was by design, then they were undoubtedly influenced by Blue Rondo a La Turk, who had the first ‘New Jazz’ hit, Me and Mr. Sanchez in 1981. The band was led by Chris Sullivan who opened The Wag Club in Wardour Street, Soho, in April 1982, a vital catalyst for the emerging scene, alongside London’s jazz capital, Ronnie Scott’s club, a regular host of another pioneering New Jazz band, also featured on CD 1 in this playlist, Weekend.

By 1983 Weekend had morphed into Working Week. The 10-minute 12” jazz dance version of the band’s Venceremos (We Will Win), here on CD 2, features vocals by Robert Wyatt and Tracey Thorn, and the extended instrumental sections are reminiscent of the proggiest examples of jazz fusion. This track alone is probably worth the admission fee, Cherry Red once again coming up top trumps in bringing this stunning track to our attention.

The set is presented in chronological order, the first eight tracks on CD1 being first released in 1982. Tracy Thorn and Robert Wyatt open up boldly with intense and articulate solo performances before the aforementioned Blue Rondo a la Turk and Weekend go all in on jazz-pop. The second half, with songs from 1983, is eclectic, to say the least, the highlight for me being JoBoxers live performance of Why Don’t You Do Right? demonstrating the joy that this style of music can bring to an enthusiastic audience.

Blue Rondo a La Turk’s line up didn’t last passed the release of their debut album, but out of the ashes was borne Matt Bianco, who open up CD 2 with Matt’s Mood, a track from their worldwide, debut, hit album Whose Side Are You On?, containing 5 hit singles.

CD 2 is packed full with interest, with established artists including Level 42 and David Sylvian releasing their own brand of jazz-infused songs. For variation, The Pale Fountains’ Southbound Excursion seems to me more folky than jazzy in its inspiration with its jangly guitars and flute soloing, and Soft Cell’s characteristically theatrical and surprisingly enjoyable mini-epic L’Esqualita is pure art-pop, and another unexpected highlight. Elsewhere, Everything but the Girl and Madness show their class by absolutely nailing the new-pop-jazz brief.

CD3 settles into a more predictable pattern with songs from 1985 proving to have thrown up more slow-to-mid tempo swing beats and fewer surprises. There are classy performances and a host of familiar names but the overall feel is that of artists riding the wave rather than sailing to new horizons. It’s actually the un-heralded pairing of Swedish singer Verna Lindt followed by The Sound Barrier who provide a couple of the jazzier and more memorable moments in this section of the set.

The penultimate track of CD3, from 1986, is The Style Council’s classic Have You Ever Had It Blue?, featured in the soundtrack of that year’s cinema release ‘Absolute Beginners’. The film wasn’t particularly well received but it struck a chord with me and I still have the original vinyl release of the soundtrack, for old time’s sake. This arguably marked the peak of the new pop wave, having fought valiantly with the competition from global superstars Madonna, Michael Jackson, Prince, Tina Turner et al, who dominated the top end of the charts. When we look back at this period, we have a lot to be thankful for the likes of Gil Evans, Gerry Dammers, Paul Weller and David Bowie in shoring up and providing a rallying call for the influence of jazz in popular music culture, and to Cherry Red for reminding us, of course.

CD4 sees the new pop movement moving more towards jazz-funk and soul, out of the jazz club set and appealing to a wider mainstream audience in disco and dance clubs. Swing Out Sister, The RAH Band, Basia and ABC provide grist to this particular mill, and Stock Aitken & Waterman go all in with Roadblock represented here in true 80’s pop fashion by an eight-minute extended version, that in all honesty, is not as bad as I remember it.

Swing Out Sister are actually a guilty pleasure of mine and the selection of a second-tier re-mix version of Breakout feels like a rare mis-step in the selection of tracks that doesn’t do the band justice. They had some very cool jazz-influenced album cuts that are arguably more suited to this collection. On the positive side, the inclusion of Heaven 17 featuring Jimmy Ruffin is inspired, true vocal class on show on The Foolish Thing To Do. Simon Fisher Turner, ex-child actor and teen idol, now in his post-rock guise as The King of Luxemburg, and The James Taylor Quartet keep it real with a pair of fine jazz instrumentals, and Martyn Bates, of Eyeless in Gaza fame, delivers a pared back and emotional cover of Diane Krall’s The Look Of Love.

Cherry Red have focused this time on Pop music of the day and have compiled a far-reaching and comprehensive set list. Despite the extent of this 4 CD collection, I found myself mentally ticking off pop bands and artists during the review process that aren’t represented, but of course there is no pleasing everyone. I guess from the prog listeners perspective I found myself thinking about jazz-fusion and world music being the missing elements of this retrospective of 80’s jazz-pop. There are very obvious limits to how far and how wide that a record company can throw its net to ‘cherry-pick’ songs for a boxset, of course, but in an ideal world, a few more complementary picks from artists operating under the wider jazz umbrella would be the ‘cherry’ on the cake (apologies, but it’s obligatory to get that one in!).

Overall, there are enough rarities and new discoveries to add spice to the more obvious choices and the liner notes are, as usual, full of interesting background details on the artists and the recordings. And what happened next? By the 90’s pop music had moved on again and as well as the SAW-inspired manufactured pop sound taking over, there was grunge and brit-pop added to the mix. However, jazz has continued to draw in many artists and the audience for jazz-inspired music remains strong. This release is a reminder of how influential and inspiring the form can be when given the time and space to be heard.

TRACK LISTING
DISC ONE
01. Everything But The Girl – Night And Day (2:57)
02. Robert Wyatt – Shipbuilding (3:07)
03. Scritti Politti – Rock-A-Boy Blue (5:53)
04. The French Impressionists – Pick Up The Rhythm (2:05)
05. Joe Jackson – Steppin’ Out (4:26)
06. Blue Rondo A La Turk – The Method (5:25)
07. Weekend – Weekend Stroll (3:23)
08. Paul Haig – The Song Is You (2:36)
09. The Higsons – Run Me Down (3:49)
10. Furniture – Why Are We In Love (5:10)
11. Jah Wobble – Sunshine (3:26)
12. Malcolm McLaren – Merengue (3:55)
13. The Republic – My Spies (3:44)
14. JoBoxers – Why Don’t You Do Right (Get Me Some Money Too) (Live At The Phoenix Theatre) (2:09)
15. Carmel – Bad Day (Recorded Live In The Studio) (6:40)
16. Swallow Tongue – Saari (4:40)
17. Jah Wobble / The Edge / Holger Czukay – Snake Charmer (6:16)
18. Kalima – The Smiling Hour (4:37)
19. Mari Wilson – Glamourpuss (4:41)

DISC TWO
01. Matt Bianco – Matt’s Mood (Extended Version) (5:32)
02. The Pale Fountains – Southbound Excursion (2:35)
03. Soft Cell – L’Esqualita (7:12)
04. Everything But The Girl – Each And Every One (2:50)
05. Working Week – Venceremos – We Will Win (Jazz Dance Special 12″) (10:15)
06. Madness – One Better Day (4:10)
07. The Special AKA – Housebound (4:15)
08. David Sylvian – The Ink In The Well (4:28)
09. Tracie – (I Love You) When You Sleep (2:56)
10. Friends Again – Thank You For Being An Angel (4:00)
11. Pleasure Ground – Life Of Jade (3:46)
12. Level 42 – Seven Days (4:24)
13. Bronski Beat – It Ain’t Necessarily So (5:25)
14. A Certain Ratio – There’s Only This (4:22)
15. In Embrace – Chocolates For Breakfast (4:01)
16. The Kane Gang – Giving Up (4:15)
17. The Colourfield – Castles In The Air (Instrumental Version) (3:56)

DISC THREE
01. Vic Godard – Holiday Hymn (2:57)
02. Alison Moyet – That Ole Devil Called Love (3:07)
03. China Crisis – Black Man Ray (3:40)
04. Virna Lindt – Whistle Wind (4:45)
05. The Sound Barrier – Mornington Crescent NW1 (4:31)
06. Sting – Moon Over Bourbon Street (4:03)
07. Pressure Point – Mellow Moods (4:370
08. Dexy’s Midnight Runners – Listen To This (3:21)
09. Dislocation Dance – He’s The Man (3:52)
10. Dee C. Lee – See The Day (4:23)
11. Brilliant – It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World (The Trans Global Mix) (6:54)
12. Fine Young Cannibals – Blue (3:34)
13. The Communards – Breadline Britain (2:34)
14. The Friday Club – Window Shopping (Extended Version) (4:27)
15. J.B.’s Allstars – Al. Arm (3:37)
16. The Blow Monkeys – Digging Your Scene (U.S. Mix) (4:50)
17. Anthony Adverse – T-R-O-U-B-L-E (2:41)
18. The Style Council – Have You Ever Had It Blue? (Uncut Version) (4:49)
19. Makin’ Time – Walk A Thin Line (3:46)

DISC FOUR
01. Swing Out Sister – Breakout (A New Rockin’ Version) (5:53)
02. Heaven Seventeen Featuring Jimmy Ruffin – The Foolish Thing To Do (Version 1) (3:41)
03. Mondo Kan̩ Featuring Dee Lewis & Coral Gordon & Guest Star Georgie Fame РNew York Afternoon (Extended Version) (5:44)
04. Louis Philippe – Like Nobody Do (2:56)
05. Kid Montana – Spooky (3:56)
06. Marden Hill – Curtain (2:55)
07. RAH Band Featuring ‘Herb’ Hewson – Take Some Thyme (5:33)
08. Eighth Wonder – Having It All (Extended Mix) (5:00)
09. Stan Campbell – Crawfish (Extended Version) (4:21)
10. The Florentines – Whisper Not (2:13)
11. Basia – Freeze Thaw (4:00)
12. ABC – When Smokey Sings (The Detroit Mix) (6:49)
13. The King Of Luxembourg – Something For Sophia Loren (2:23)
14. The James Taylor Quartet – Alfie (2:40)
15. Stock Aitken Waterman – Roadblock (8:04)
16. Martyn Bates – The Look Of Love (3:52)
17. Biting Tongues – Compressor (4:53)
18. Night Trains – Open Channel D (4:43)

MUSICIANS
Way too many to list…

ADDITIONAL INFO
Record Label: Cherry Red Records
Country of Origin: UK
Date of Release: 26^th Jun2 2026

LINKS
Cherry Red Records – Cherry Red Compilation Info | Facebook